200 Years Of Escalating Policy Mistakes

"Central Bankers and policymakers can’t stop themselves from interfering." To be fair on them (unusual in his case), SocGen's Albert Edwards admits the pressure to do something in the face of “bad” economic news is overwhelming. The general public or more inconveniently, the electorate, clamor for action from policymakers to counter any economic pain. Any ‘Austrian School’-type suggestion that it is best to let the cycle play out is derided as heartless and defeatist. Something can and must always be done. Whether intervention makes things worse in the medium to long run is an inconvenience that can be ignored until later. We feel Edwards pain as he "sheds tears of despair as [he] was reminded of the blundering incompetence of our overconfident policymakers, whose interventions, despite their best intentions, seem to bring about financial crises with increasing rather than decreasing regularity."